JUST ONE MORE WEEK TO ACT

In just one week the Maritime Administration (“MarAd”) will stop accepting public comments on the plans to build a deepwater LNG port in coastal waters off Long Beach, NY and Sandy Hook, NJ. Although the project is being billed as an import facility, there’s every reason to believe it will end up being used to export fracked gas overseas. Please take less than a minute and push MarAd to consider the “upstream impacts” of fracking before granting a license to Port Ambrose.

Our Action Alert consists of four new letters concerning drinking water contamination; human health; the climate change impact of fugitive gas emissions; and the harmful effect of fracking on sustainable economic sectors such as agriculture and tourism. We have it set up so you can send all four letters in less than a minute–please take action now, while there’s still time.

AS FEARED, INSURANCE IS DENIED TO HOMEOWNERS WITH GAS WELLS

Jim Goldstein, Supervisor of the Town of Lebanon in Madison County, NY, has confirmed that residents of his town have been unable to renew their homeowner’s insurance because they have a gas well on their property. In an email to his constituents, Goldstein said, “Initially, we thought [the practice of denying coverage] was limited to one company, but it turns out it is a trend.” Goldstein points that homeowners will not only be unable to insure their property, they will also lose liability coverage, and are likely to “have great difficulty persuading others to buy their property when they are ready to sell.”

Twenty-five percent of Madison County is leased for drilling, according to Goldstein.

WORSE THAN ANYONE THOUGHT

FUGITIVE EMISSIONS …

A team of scientists report that the somewhere between 6 and 12 percent of the methane extracted from the Uinta gas fields in Utah escapes into the atmosphere–that’s a “fugitive emission” rate about ten times higher than current EPA estimates.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research has concluded that when fugitive emissions exceed 2 percent, natural gas contributes more to global warming than so-called dirty coal.

… ARSENIC IN GROUNDWATER …

Another study, this one out of Texas, found high levels of arsenic and other heavy metals in groundwater near fracking sites in the Barnett Shale.

… AND AN UNFOLDING SCANDAL AT THE EPA

In his latest blog post, Tom Wilber provides further evidence that EPA’s decision to shut down its investigation into drinking water contamination in Dimock, PA was politically motivated. In June EPA bowed to industry and abandoned its investigation into fracking-related drinking water contamination in Pavilion, WY.